Friday, December 23, 2016

One of my favorite patterns is the Sewing Workshop Now shirt. I have made a couple in the past, and although I didn't think I would wear them, they ended up being one of my favorite garments. I wanted to make a couple of lightweight shirts to take to Uganda, and also wanted to teach my friend Sylvia how to make a shirt. She did GREAT with this pattern.

One of the things I like about this shirt is the unusual collar construction. You kind of use the burrito method to put it on, so there is no hand stitching or stitching in the ditch. Another nice thing is that the entire shirt is constructed with French seams. This makes it perfect for a ravelly or sheer fabric. On the sheer shirt, I used baby hems for the bottom and turned up a double hem to the outside on the sleeve.

My Babylock Ellageo was giving us fits with the buttonholes, so I dug out my trusty Pfaff hobby machine. We could have made the buttonholes on the Aria, but I wanted Sylvia to learn how to make a 4-step buttonhole. These buttonholes turned out perfectly every time! (I'll have to snag a picture next time she comes over.) Now she knows how to make great buttonholes on a four-step machine.

She has a really cool vintage Nelco machine (sz217) and we just got it back from the repair man in Fresno. Going into his shop is like going into a sewing machine museum. There is every make of old sewing machine and every type you've ever seen. He is very knowledgeable about every little detail of sewing machines. We were just getting her machine out of the case to show him and he knew the model number before we even showed it to him. He said the machine is well known for its quality among the sewing repair community.

The next few days will include very little if any sewing. After that, we will be sewing maniacs getting ready for our trip to Uganda.

3
comments:

Janet
said...

I find your blog very interesting. After reading your blog this am, I read all of the reviews on PatternReview for the Now-Zen shirt. I see one of those in my future! A favor to ask: Our DD & GDD live in Fresno...they sew occasionally ...I think they might like the name of the sew machine guy! :)